Ethnic theatre has always been a source of release and education for immigrants in America. Theatre has a social, political, and cultural significance in each community since not only did it provide entertainment and release from daily stress, but also a learning moment for the community to be educated on certain hot topic issues and ideologies.
The origin of ethnic theatre came primarily through immigration and conquest of land in the United States. However, theatre did not start out as boisterously as they came to be. Many started as small clubs where people came together to perform plays or read and discuss them. Several organizations would sponsor amateur theatre that had professional, or semiprofessional, actors and directors, but for the most part ethnic theatre struggled with funding. They were constantly short with money. Not only that, quarrels occurred often within the community which led to opposition against one another. Sometimes that opposition is towards other communities, and many attacks occurred against different ethnic theatre due to discrimination and ignorance, either through different communities or white journalists. Despite these issues though, ethnic theatre in multiple communities withstood the hate and flourished instead, especially between 1900 to 1930s. Ethnic theatre was insanely good at bringing people of a community together and providing convenient (and cheap) entertainment for the working immigrants. It became almost a necessity for immigrants to watch plays as a form of stress relief, much like how modern Americans now watch TV to get their mind off of their own daily stress. Not only did the theatre supply stress relief, it also met the intellectual, emotional, and social needs for these immigrants who had to leave behind many of their own enriching institutions and traditions in their homeland.
Ethnic theatre was able to expose many immigrants to their native cultures, giving them all that hit of nostalgia and taste of home in every play. Ethnic theatre also made the history and literature available to both literate and illiterate within a community, as well as giving the American-born generation some insight into their family's culture and traditions. Ethnic theatre branched beyond just their own ethnic community, many ethnic theatre also brought in different plays of different communities to give a well-rounded experience to theatergoers. Not only did it broaden minds culturally, it also was an important influence in Americanizing immigrants. Immigrants with different regional dialects were introduced to the "standard" of their native language and to English in a visual context. These both promoted better understanding of not only the ethnic community but also the new land that they're in. Last but not least, the ethnic theatre also exposed audience to intricate analysis of social problems occurring in that time period such as class struggle and women's rights. But more than to educate themselves, theatergoers came for a diversion, a distraction from their daily lives for just half a dollar. Tragedy was a popular genre because they provided an emotional outlet for people to use as an excuse to cry over what their life has become. It became emotional release to them. However, comedies were just as popular as well. Plays that had justice in the end were very popular amongst the audience, because people craved for the same ending with their own lives. People also loved plays that made fun of the "newbie" immigrant, because they love to compare and to see how far they've become, to pump up their own ego. Audience saw these plays as either relatable or "well, at least I don't got it that bad!" So these comedies not only satirize the ethnic community, but also criticized the hypocrisy and corruption of the then mainstream American life.
Ethnic theatre sought not only to educate and entertain, but to also bring people together. It was a personal refuge as well as a social center for those in an ethnic community. It sought not only to create connections within a community, but also between other communities. It also provided a Hollywood lifestyle for women who were successful with theatre; it gave them the ability to live lives that were powerful and successful and unconventional without being scorned by their community. The theatre was also used to improve stereotyped images of certain ethnic communities with big production plays that emphasized their moral goodness. However, the decline began around 1925 and ethnic theatre were growing scarce in number and scarce in funds. The biggest problem was not the new technology such as radio and movies, but the fact that ethnic theatre primarily catered to foreign born immigrants who were coming less in numbers due to immigration acts passed by the federal government. The American-born generations simply did not relate to these plays as well as the foreign-born immigrants did.
Come World War II and ethnic theatre is on the rise again. The political and cultural atmosphere had heightened to a new intensity that ethnic theatre provided a great outlet for the spread of ideas and protest. Ethnic theatres sought to not only inform their people of social issues, but also to mainstream American society. Even though ethnic theatre cannot go back to its glory days of the early 1900s, the theatre more or less performed the same function of educating and informing of native cultures and social justice issues. It also provided an outlet for self-expression that many ethnicities couldn't get in mainstream media like Hollywood movies. Ethnic theatre allowed ethnic people to define themselves as people, not as stereotypes. That is not to say that stereotypes did not occur in plays, but when they did, such as the alcoholic Native American mother, it was explored from the inside, the psychological state, instead of the outside for a quick laugh and a comedic piss. In the end, ethnic theatres continued to do what they've always done, and that is to give ethnic audiences plays that they could relate to on a personal level. It is sad to say that ethnic theatre may not be a huge part of American society anymore, mainly due to scarce funding and political priorities, but it will always live within American society regardless of however many setbacks it will face. That's the beauty of it, and it is sad to say that mainstream media is only barely coming close to the progressiveness of ethnic theatre.
Ethnic theatre has always been a source of release and education for immigrants in America. Theatre has a social, political, and cultural significance in each community since not only did it provide entertainment and release from daily stress, but also a learning moment for the community to be educated on certain hot topic issues and ideologies.
The origin of ethnic theatre came primarily through immigration and conquest of land in the United States. However, theatre did not start out as boisterously as they came to be. Many started as small clubs where people came together to perform plays or read and discuss them. Several organizations would sponsor amateur theatre that had professional, or semiprofessional, actors and directors, but for the most part ethnic theatre struggled with funding. They were constantly short with money. Not only that, quarrels occurred often within the community which led to opposition against one another. Sometimes that opposition is towards other communities, and many attacks occurred against different ethnic theatre due to discrimination and ignorance, either through different communities or white journalists. Despite these issues though, ethnic theatre in multiple communities withstood the hate and flourished instead, especially between 1900 to 1930s. Ethnic theatre was insanely good at bringing people of a community together and providing convenient (and cheap) entertainment for the working immigrants. It became almost a necessity for immigrants to watch plays as a form of stress relief, much like how modern Americans now watch TV to get their mind off of their own daily stress. Not only did the theatre supply stress relief, it also met the intellectual, emotional, and social needs for these immigrants who had to leave behind many of their own enriching institutions and traditions in their homeland.
Ethnic theatre was able to expose many immigrants to their native cultures, giving them all that hit of nostalgia and taste of home in every play. Ethnic theatre also made the history and literature available to both literate and illiterate within a community, as well as giving the American-born generation some insight into their family's culture and traditions. Ethnic theatre branched beyond just their own ethnic community, many ethnic theatre also brought in different plays of different communities to give a well-rounded experience to theatergoers. Not only did it broaden minds culturally, it also was an important influence in Americanizing immigrants. Immigrants with different regional dialects were introduced to the "standard" of their native language and to English in a visual context. These both promoted better understanding of not only the ethnic community but also the new land that they're in. Last but not least, the ethnic theatre also exposed audience to intricate analysis of social problems occurring in that time period such as class struggle and women's rights. But more than to educate themselves, theatergoers came for a diversion, a distraction from their daily lives for just half a dollar. Tragedy was a popular genre because they provided an emotional outlet for people to use as an excuse to cry over what their life has become. It became emotional release to them. However, comedies were just as popular as well. Plays that had justice in the end were very popular amongst the audience, because people craved for the same ending with their own lives. People also loved plays that made fun of the "newbie" immigrant, because they love to compare and to see how far they've become, to pump up their own ego. Audience saw these plays as either relatable or "well, at least I don't got it that bad!" So these comedies not only satirize the ethnic community, but also criticized the hypocrisy and corruption of the then mainstream American life.
Ethnic theatre sought not only to educate and entertain, but to also bring people together. It was a personal refuge as well as a social center for those in an ethnic community. It sought not only to create connections within a community, but also between other communities. It also provided a Hollywood lifestyle for women who were successful with theatre; it gave them the ability to live lives that were powerful and successful and unconventional without being scorned by their community. The theatre was also used to improve stereotyped images of certain ethnic communities with big production plays that emphasized their moral goodness. However, the decline began around 1925 and ethnic theatre were growing scarce in number and scarce in funds. The biggest problem was not the new technology such as radio and movies, but the fact that ethnic theatre primarily catered to foreign born immigrants who were coming less in numbers due to immigration acts passed by the federal government. The American-born generations simply did not relate to these plays as well as the foreign-born immigrants did.
Come World War II and ethnic theatre is on the rise again. The political and cultural atmosphere had heightened to a new intensity that ethnic theatre provided a great outlet for the spread of ideas and protest. Ethnic theatres sought to not only inform their people of social issues, but also to mainstream American society. Even though ethnic theatre cannot go back to its glory days of the early 1900s, the theatre more or less performed the same function of educating and informing of native cultures and social justice issues. It also provided an outlet for self-expression that many ethnicities couldn't get in mainstream media like Hollywood movies. Ethnic theatre allowed ethnic people to define themselves as people, not as stereotypes. That is not to say that stereotypes did not occur in plays, but when they did, such as the alcoholic Native American mother, it was explored from the inside, the psychological state, instead of the outside for a quick laugh and a comedic piss. In the end, ethnic theatres continued to do what they've always done, and that is to give ethnic audiences plays that they could relate to on a personal level. It is sad to say that ethnic theatre may not be a huge part of American society anymore, mainly due to scarce funding and political priorities, but it will always live within American society regardless of however many setbacks it will face. That's the beauty of it, and it is sad to say that mainstream media is only barely coming close to the progressiveness of ethnic theatre.